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SKETCH 



—OK THE— 



EARLY HISTORY 



-OF THE— 



REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH 



OF BERGEN, 



—IN- 



JERSEY CITY. 



Compiled from the Ancient Church Records, and Deacon's Account BOoke of 

BERGEN, COMMUNIPAIW, AND HASYMITS. 



d'/versteeg! '••-'^^ ^ 

With an introduction by Rev. CORNELIUS BRETT, Pastor of tht'Bergeu Ile<'<).>ni>.'d;Gliurch, 



NEW YORK: 
D. VERSTEEG, Poblisuer. 
1881). 



y^" 



INrRODUCTION. 



The history of the Old Bergen Church ha? been frequently writ- 
ten ; and yet, in the time-stained archives, hidden in a language that 

has been dead to the congregation for nearly a century, materials im- 

I 

used lay waiting the patient, painstaking work of the explorer and 
translator. Mr. D. Versteeg, a Hollander by birth, an American by 
education, and an antiquarian by instinct, has undertaken the work. 

As a translator for the Holland Society of New x'ork, his atten- 
tion was first attracted to the value of the ancient records of Bergen. 
In the parsonage, where they are preserved, he has spent many days 
in a careful review of the documents, and the result of his labors is 
put forth in the pamphlet, now offered to those who are interested in 
the wonderful story of pious sacrifice, and devoted faith, exhibited by 
the early settleis from the Netherlands. Most of the facts herein 
written, are, I am sure, published for the first time. 

The httle volume cannot fail to be a valuable contribution to the 

colonial' .li^stQry oi Neiv Jersey. 
''■'''*'- . . t .' . <■ 

CORNELIUS BRETT. 

^ ^ ;Pai;3\iUf(g\f df«jth,e pei-geu Kf foriued Church, 
January i, 1889. 



Sketch of the Early History of the Reforined Batch Church of 

Bergen, N. J. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF BEROEN. 

.IRECTOR PETER STUYVESANT, though rather arbitrary in 
his deahngs with the people whom he had been sent by the 
home authorities to govern in New Netherland, was withal a kind 
regent, as long as his military notions of civil government were not 
opposed by the " subjects," as he was fond of calling the free citizens 
of the province. Though his not always wise attempts at regulating 
the commerce of his " subjects,"' well nigh, for a time, ruined the 
former and procured him a host of enemies among the latter, still he 
did all he could to foster agriculture, and was ever ready, in his pecu- 
har, high-handed way, to promote the farming interests of the country 
and to attract agriculturists to settle upon its fertile soil. 

If, therefore, the foreign trade of New Netherland suffered dui'ing 
part of his administration, the agriculture and the domestic commerce 
of the province flourished, and the lands of many abandoned agricultu- 
ral settlements were taken up again, or entirely new tracts brought 
under cultivation. 

In the second half of the seventeenth century a small company 
of Dutch settlers had located themselves between the hills and 
marshes of the northern part of Scheyichbi (New Jersey) at about 
two mies distance from the North River, for the double purpose, un- 
doubtedly, of tillmg the soil, and tradmg with the several Indian 
tiibes who passed near or through the settlement, to and from Foit 
Amsterdam, on the island of Manhattan. The location seemed lo have 
been so well chosen that before long many more joitied the numbei 
of the pioneers, the young commvmity quickly outgrew even oldtx 
settlements in its immediate vicinity, and on September the 15ih, 
1661, tLe Governor and Council of New Netherlaud granted it a village 
charter. The little pioneer village in the wilderness rectived the name 
of Bergen, after a small town in Holland, the most important of the 



provicceg, constituting the United Nethe. lands. CLui\b aLd t-cLool 
to the early settlers were sj'nonymous with civilizatior, and after the 
nhabitants of Bergen had built themselves dwelliags and erected a 
tockaded enclosure as a protection against attacks of the Indians, 
they constructed a school-house, and in September, 1662, the ' ' Schout" 
and "Schepenen" or civil authorities of the village petitioned the 
Governor and his Couacil for a M nister of the Gospe\ at the same 
time subjoining a subsciiption list, by which twenty-five persons had 
obligated themselves yearly to contribute the amount of f4:ll* in 
seewan for his support. But the affairs of the province at this period 
were in such a bid condition, and the ti-easury of the West India Com- 
pany was so near bankrupt, tbat probably for those rea-ons the peti- 
tion had to be ignored, and Bergen, for almost a century afterwards, 
remained without the services of a local pastor. But if a minister 
could not be had it was comj^arativtly easy to procure a schoolmaster, 
who could at the same time fid the minister's place on Sundays, and 
edify the congregation by reading for them a sermon, after having 
taught the village youth during w^eek days. 

THE SCHOOL. 

As the Bergen school-house was undoubtedly the first, and for 
years to come the only public building in the village, it is mt more 
than proj)er to give it the first place among the several topics, about 
which this sketch is to. treat. 

The records, as far as they go back, say nothing about the erec- 
tion of the earliest school house, so that it must have been built soon 
after the village received its charter. Church and school in those days 
were so closely united, especially in the rural communities, tbat the 
people, soon after forming an ecclesiastical body, built their school, at 
first for the double purpose of a meetit g place for the congregation, 
and a lyceuni for the cLildren. It has been asserted that this school- 
house was a log building, but very sligh^ historical evidence seems to 
show that this was n it the case. New Amsterdam, with its saw-mil's 
and lime kilns, was so close by, and there was so much building ma- 
terial in the neighborhood, that the expense for a brick, stone or frame 
school building would not come much higher than for a log bouse. 
And, besides, an entry in the account of the deacons, dated March 
29th, 1678, says: "Lime for whitewashing the school-house fl and 
10 stivers," which would not have been necessary if the walls had 

*/is the Dutch mark for guilder, as $ is the American mark for dollar, 
and £ the English mark for pound sterling. A Dutch guilder has 100 cents, 
or 20 stivers, and is equal to 40 cents American money. A stiver is equal to 3 
cents American money. 



been logs. Again, on January 18th, 1680, 'Schoal-house debit to Hel- 
migla Roelofs3 (Van Houten) for nailing boards to the gable /"G." Many 
other entries later on about work done on the school-house, and ma- 
terials bought for it, esiDeciallj nails, of which several poands were 
used, appear to indicate that logs had not been made use of in build- 
ing the first school of Bergen. 

For almost fifty years Bergen's youth had received instruction in 
the now venerable buildiog, and it became necessary to provide for a 
new one, which, at the same time, was to be a little better ia keeping 
with the undoubtedly very much approved aspect of the village. 

This second school-house was begun to be built in 1708, as ajjpears 
from the following account: '' On Tuesday, May 11th, 1708, Matheus 
Bensum has made a beginning with the new school- house, and com- 
menced with the foundation, and Mr. Adrian Vermeulen, voorlezer, at 
Bergen, laid the corner stone." 

It may hi interesting, after a lapse of so many years, to give an 
itemized account of the exjDenses incurred, and the work done upon 
the second school of Bergea, by which some idea can be formed of the 
probable size of the building : 

1708. To Adrian Quackinbush for 100 boards at 38s. a piece /140 

" " Matlieu.s Bensum, 10 days at f\0 per day,> j 100 

" " Marten Winne, 31 days at /-lO " 'j masons ^ ^^^ 

" " Risso, the hod-carrier, 31 days at 3 Realtjesper day Orj.lOst. 

" " 6 lbs. nails at /3 per lb ; '. ]8 

" '' the glazier for 38 feet of glass 09 

" " Samuel Bayard, for 84 lb. nails at /8 per lb 353 

" " 5 lb. nails at/3 per lb 15 

" " lock for the door ; 7.10st. 

Total for 1703 /907 

1710. Expended over 1708 /iJ07 

May 3.To Mathys Mott, for ironwork y4 

" " Helmigh Roelofse, for paving stone (steenklinkers) 80 

" Cornells Van Vorst, 3 lb. nails at/3*per lb : 

" " Hendrik Claasse Kuyper. for 4 lb. nails 13 

" '• Gerrit Stynmets, for 4 lb, nails 12 

Oct. 3 " Gerrit Roos, for laying the eciling 40 

" " his board 

" " 101b. nails 15 

" " 10 boards at 36 stivers a piece Ig 

" " for carting the boards 7.103t. 

Total cost T.T.... ./1193.108t. 

Several of Bergen's citizens assisted at the building of the new 
school by carting, as it seems gratuitously, materials to the site, as is 
shown by the following list : 



Johaimis Micliielse, 10 loads of sl.oue 
Cornells Blinkerhof, 10 
Maritje Hartmans, 10 " 

Johaimis Thomasse, 5 " 

Fredrick Thomasse, 10 
The same, 1 " day 

Uldrick Brouwer, 4 " stone 

Johauuis Pouwelse, 8 loads of stone 
The same, 3 " chiy 



Matheus DeMolt, 1 load of stone 

The same, 10 loads of clay 

Jacob Jacobse Van Winkel, 5 loads of 

stone 
The same, 5 loads of clay 

Robert Siggelse,l " 

Jan Lubberse, 5 loads of sand, 1 load 

of claj', 1 load of lime. 



In all, 63 loads of stone, 21 loads of clay, 5 loads of sand, 1 load of lime. 

The record does not say how long the second school-building 
served its purpose, but an expenditure in 1782 for work on the school- 
house points to the probability of its havuig faced Bergen Square till 
the end of the former, or the beginning of the present century. 

THE CHUKCH. 

Up to 1681 the congregation of Bergen worshiped in the school- 
house, but as its membership increased^ a more commodious place of 
worship was needed, and in 1680 the people resolved to begin the 
erection of their first church edifice. The list below, showing the cost 
of its building, is complete us far as it was possible to get at the 
figures, though it is evident, that not all the items, especially those 
for lumber have been preserved. 

1680, June 30. For carpenter's work in seewant /300 

" "nails ( contr. by I 117 

" '' 1,000 paving stone (steenklinkers) "(Ahasymus j" 60 

" nails, and 1,000 paving stone, contr. by Gemoenepa 177 

" nails 117 

" 100 lb. nails 150 

To Cornells Hopper, iron work 388.10st- 

the carpenter 43 

April3.For40 lb. nails 60 

" 38. " the carpenter 333 

•" 30 lb. nails and 2 gallons of rum 43 

May 10. '• William Day, the English mason 35 

" 39. •' the carpenter ! 100 

Sept. 35. ToCaptain Berry 28 

Oct. 10. " Steven Cortland, for 1,000 paving stone tiO 



Sept. 5. 
Oct. 3. 

Dec. 30. 



1681, 



Total in 1680 and '81 ./1898.10st. 



1682, April 4. To Johanuis Van Giesen. 



75 



]Vrchl2. " the carpenter in silver money 200 

Aug. 9. "• same 200 

1686,M'chl8. " ClaasArense(Toers) 198.10st. 

" " same 10 



Total cost of cliurch f2612 



On May 23d, 1681, Bergen's first church was ready for worsLip, 
and on that day the thankful congregation repaired thither to listen 
to the words of Kev. Caspar Van Zuren, from Long Island, who had 
been requested to preach the dedicatory sermon. In the gladness of 
their hearts the members of the congregation contributed the muni- 
ficent amount of fdl.lOsi. or almost four times as much as when a 
minister, en other days, preached for them, and over nine times more 
than when their Vborlezer led the services. 

A belfry adorned their "little" church, as it is sometimes called 
in the account book, and in the summer of 1683, or a little over two 
years after the dedication, the first beU, probably a present of some 
members of the congregation, began to call the people up to the 
house of worship, and to toll the funeral knell over those who were being- 
carried to the grave. 

The growing congregation and the ravages of time after 92 years 
of constant use of the first church building, rendered it necessary to 
erect a new and larger one, and in the beginning of May, 1773, work 
was begun upon the second house of worship in the village of Bergen. 
Part of the accounts having been lost, it was not possible either to 
find out when the church was finished, or the total amount expended 
upon it, but from May 17 to October 17, 1773, about £362 had been 
laid out for material and labor. For several years after the church 
was dedicated the old bell seems to have done service in the new bel- 
fry, until on June 20, 1787, another bell was bought by the consistory 
at a cost of £31 in New York money. This bell pealed forth its invi- 
tations for religious meetings in Bergen's second sanctuary for about 
54 years after it had been suspended in the belfry, when a new place 
of worship was needed again, and in 1841 the congregation erected 
its thii'd church. 

THE MEMBERSHIP. 

The Dutch Reformed Church in those eaily days was rather ex- 
acting in its requirements of the ai^plicants for admission to member- 
ship. Before being accepted they had to pass a rigid examination 
before the minister and the consistory, sometimes in the presence of 
two members of the congregation as witnesses. This examination, 
besides covering the whole ground of Bible history, had for subjects 
the general e\idences of the truths of Christianity, and the doctrines 
of the Reformed Church, as set forth in the Heidelberg catechism. If 
the consistory was satisfied with the answers, the applicants, at cer- 
tain stated periods of the year, were accepted into membeiship be- 
fore the whole congregation, provided no complaints had been brought 
against their moral character, and soundness in church doctrine. It 
took several years of study before the young people were deemed able 



8 

to submit to the examination, and during all that time they went at 
least once a week to " catechism" in order to recite from their question 
books to the minister, and in the absence of a pastor to the voorlezer, 
or an elder of the congregation. During that period of their religious 
instruction the learners were called "catechumens, " or students of the 
rudiments of Christianity. 

At the time of the beginning of the membership record in 1664, 
Bergen's church numbered only 27 communicants, viz.: 18 females 
and 9 males. In the following year this number was increased 
through the admissioa of new members, with 5 females and 6 males, 
so that at the close of 1665 the congregation of Bergen had a mem- 
bership of '38, divided over Bergen, Ahasymus, Gemoenepa (Communi- 
paw) and Hackinsack. The number of communicants now speedily 
increased, until in 1686 the portion of the congregation Hving at and 
near Hackinsack, sejDarated from the mother church at Bergen, and 
organized one of their own, with Mr. Guiliamo Bertholf as voorlezer. 
The latter and his wife on October 6, 1684, had come with church 
certiticate from Sluis in the province of Zeeland, and joined the 
church of Bergen. From 1669 till 1675 there is a gap in the mem- 
bership record, but from that time down to the latter part of the 
former century the register, with few exceptions, is continuous. 

As an instance of the liberal spirit of the early founders of Jersey 
City may still be mentioned that among the 8 new members admitted 
in 1679, one, Jochem Anthony, was a colored man, 

The reconversion of a most worthy woman from the Reformed to 
the Lutheran faith at the early history of Bergen's church has been 
brought down to posterity through the following curious entry in the 
membership record : "But after having not more than once communed 
with us she fell out, and having (formerly) left the faith of the Luth- 
erans agaia returned to it. This has been put down as a cliff in the 
sea that others, seeing this, may not be shipwrecked from the faith." 

THE CONSISTORY. 

Up to May 6, 1751, no mention was made of the election of mem- 
bers of the consistory, but at that date Mr. Peter De Wint, who then 
officiated as minister of Bergen, made aa entry in the register, re- 
cordiug the nomuiation of the following persons as members for the 
consistory: "Elder, Michiel Vreeland ; Deacons, Joris Vreeland, 
Robert Siggels, son of Zacharias : Church masters, Hendrik Van 
Winkel, Hendrik Brinkerhof." "After these above-named persons had 
been three times announced by me in our church here, they have been 
installed by me in August of the same year." Occasionally mention 
is made before that time of deacons in the accounts of the deaconry. 



9 

which shoAV that the consistory, beside two elders and two church 
masters, consisted of one deacon for Ahasymus, one for Gemoenepa 
(Communipaw) and two for Bergen. About the manner in which 
they were elected nothing has been preserved, but from what we 
know of other churches and their methods, we may infer that the first 
consistory had been chosen by the male members of the congregution, 
and afterwards elected their own successors. Judging from accounts 
of Ahasymus and Gemoenepa, the members of the consistory served 
for two years, though in some instances the deacons of these two 
places held their office a year longer. 

On May 14, 1716, we have the first account of a meeting of the 
consistory, convened for the purpose of regulating the occiipation and 
sale of seats in the church, which was accomplished in the following 
manner : 

Bekgen, May 14, 171G. 

The consistory met, and resolved, after calling upon the Loid's 
name, to remove some inconveniences regarding the seal s in the church 
that all causes for discord maybe tak n away, and the church masters 
may know how to act in several cases without incurring opposition. It 
was further resolved to invite all the male iliembers from the pulpit 
during the morning service to meet together in the barn of Helmigh 
Roelofse (Van Houten), where the consistory would submit to them 
certain salutary measures in order to be decided upon by a majoiity 
of votes. 

This having been done, on the same date and place aforesaid, all 
the males belonging to the congregation, who there appeared with the 
chui-ch masters and the consistory, resolved and decreed that from 
now on the followiug five articles shall be observed by the Church 
Masters and that all whom they concern shall behave in accordance 
with them, viz : 

I. Those belonging at present to the congregation, and having 
acquired seats Vty purchase, inheritance or any other lawful means, 
shall possess the same and peaceably retain them luitil their death or 
dejDarture from the congregation. 

II. All those not belonging to the village or the church of Bergen, 
and not contributing toward the maintenance of church, school < r 
religious services, shall pay for either men's or women's seats the 
annual sum of six shillings, current money, into the hands of the 
Church Masters, or somebody authorized by them. 

III. The seats of those who die, shall return to the church, but 
under condition that the Church Masters shall sell those places to the 
next heir of the deceased for two shillings, in case the former applies 
for them within one year, and he or she belongs to the cougregation 
as per Art. II., and the seat was a hereditary one come down from 
the original builders of the church. 

IV. Those ]-)ossessing no seats in church and wishing for one, 
shall apply to the Church Masters for the purpose of purchasing one, 
and come to an understanding about the price, but, 

V. Those belonging to the congregation, as stipulated in Art. II., 
and having no seat in church, shall apply to the Church Masters, who 



10 

will undoubtedly dispose of these seats at very popular prices (op 
eene zeer civiele wijze wel zuUen accordeeren). 

From Ai"t. IV. and V. it will be seen that the congregation in 
this instance followed the Germanic policy in leaving great freedom 
of action to the authorities, charged with the execution of the law, 
whereas in other neighboring churches the Latin method was followed 
in the leasing of chiu'ch pews, by laying down exact rules, according to 
which the Chvirch Masters were to dispose of the seats. 

BAPTISMS. 

The baptismal record of Bergen commences on January 1, 1666, 
with the following entry : '• Pieter Jansen Slot and Maritje Jacobs 
had their child baptized and named Jan ; witnesses Elyas Machiels 
(Vreeland) and Steyntje Jacobs." From 1669 till 1673 there is a gap 
extending over more than four years, during which time the children 
may have been entered upon the records of New York or other 
churches, and in 1674 only two children seem to have been baptized 
at Bergen. In after years it sometimes occurs that children, born at 
Bergen, were carried to New York to be christened, in which case the 
baptism was entered in the Bergen record in the following manner : 
" N. N. born at Bergen and baptized at New York." 

On June 13, 1681, about one month after the dedication of Ber- 
gen's first church, Margrietje Hendrickse (Brinkerhof) and Hendrick 
Johaunisse Spier were the first of the large number of children to be 
baptized within its walls, which fact the keeper of the records deemed 
interesting enough to preserve for posterity, while on April 2, 1683, 
the sacrament of baptism was first administered to a married woman, 
and thereupon to her two children. 

The ages of the baj)tized children generally ranged from two 
weeks to a month, but circumstances sometimes induced parents to 
have it done at an earlier age, as is shown by the following entry : 
"April 11, 1687, Claas Arentse Toers and Jacomyntje Van Nest have 
their child baptized and named Judith. This child was born on the 
same date and year." Often the record mentioned the hour of the 
day or the night at which baptized children had been born, and some- 
times contained particulars like the following : " 1694, Jan'y 5th, was 
born the 2d daughter and the 4tli child of Cornells Van Voorst and 
his wife, Feytje Gerrits, at Ahasymus; was called Annetje, and bap- 
tized at New York." "This Annetje married a young man named 
Marten Winne, and was married 11 months, and had a son called 
Le^inus. Annatje died and was bvmed at Bergen. After her funeral 
this son died also and was buried near his mother." 



11 

For about a century all the entries in the baptismal record bad 
been kept in the Holland tongue, but on January 6, 1762, the child of 
English parents, non-residents of Bergen, was baptized, on which 
occasion the first entry was made in English, and reads as follows : 
-'Jan'yB, 1762, mother, Catharina French; father, William Andrew 
Doner; child baptized, William Andi'ew; godmother Ann Miller." 
The following entries were again in Dutch, and this was continued for 
several years after. At about the aforementioned time, also, Ameri- 
cans of Enghsh descent commenced to join the Bergen church, married 
into Dutch families, and, as a consequence, Enghsh names began to 
appear upon the records. It was rather hard work, though, for the 
Voorlezers, who up to that time, and during many years to come, un- 
derstood very Uttle of English, to record the foreign sounding names, 
and therefore followed the '' phonetic" method of spelling them, which 
does not always render those English names very legible. 

People very generally during the earlier days traveled with their 
little ones to other places in order to have them baptized there, and 
thus we often find that children were brought from Bergen to New 
York, and from New York, Hackensack, Acquackenonck (Passaic) and 
other places to Bergen for the purpose of being baptized. 

MAREIAGES. 

After the membership record the register of marriages is the 
earliest, commencing on December the 3d,1665, at which date Laurens 
Duyts and Grietje Jans were registered for marriage. After their banns 
had been published for three consecutive Sundays before the Bergen 
congregation, and no objections had been raised, the couple, on the 
morning of January 1st, 1666, were joined in marriage by a minister, 
who at that time happened to be in the village. Not always did the 
marriage ceremony take place after the proclamation of banns, for on 
Ma 7 26th, 1678, a couple, coming from England, had their banns pub- 
lished at Bergen, but the proceedings had to be suspended, on account 
of the contents of a note, received during the interval between the reg- 
istration, and the last publication of the banns. 

It was customary with many, in those, and later days, to have the 
marriage banns published at one place, and to get the ceremony per- 
formed at another. After the banns had been published during the 
requu-ed number of times, the young couple applied for the certificate 
of publication, which was sigiied by the proper civil or ecclesiastical 
authorities, and thereupon set out for a more or less distant town 
there to have the marriage concluded. In that manner parties coming 
from New York, Acquackenonck, Hackensack, English neighborhood. 
Long Island, Esopus, Albany and other places, were married at Ber- 
gen, and parties from Bergen lilcewise went to Breukelen, New York, 



1'2 

Staten Island and other towns, and were there joined in wedlock. It 
seems that the i^ersons who performed the ceremony wrote to the j lace 
from where the appl cants for marriage carne with their cerlificate, iind 
by this the puMishers of tbe 1 antis were enabled to fill in the date and 
the place of maniage. 

As the birthplace of both g-ro m and bride were nearly always 
mentioned in the marriage record, it i ■ comparatively easy to know 
w^hence tnany of Bergen's original church members came. Several of 
them had been born in the Netherlands and nearly every province 
had its representative^, rendering Bergen's population, if^ot cosmo- 
politan, thf n certainly inter-provincial. Before long, Maryland and Vir- 
ginia furnished their contingent, whilst prior to that time several towns 
of New Netherland had sent representatives of their inhabitants. In 
the course of years English, Scotch, Irish and French setters joined 
the original ones, and Captain Berry's plantation, also, aided very mat- 
erially in swelling the numbers of the population of Bergen. In 1684 
"Isaac Billau,b rn on the sea and Ida Suebringh," were joined in mar- 
riage at Bergen, though it does not appear that they fixed their resi- 
dence here. 

At a few miles distance from Bergen, near the banks of the Hack- 
ensack river, ^tood a Huguenot church of which, very strange, almost 
every remembrance has been los% and up to this time, only a few 
stray entiies in some of the old records of neighbormg chui-ches, point 
to its having existed. The church records of Bergen contain some 
such entries, one of which reads as follows: "1693, February 28th,. 
Daniel De Vouw, widower, and Engeltje Cornells appeared here with 
certificate from the French church at Hackinsack, that for three Sun- 
days they had had theii- marriage proclamations without hindrance. Th ey 
were accordingly joined in marriage on February 28th, by R. V^n 
Giesen, in presence of the court." A few days later, oq March the 5th^ 
1693, Jan Wette and Annetje Comelis, likewise from the French 
church at Hackensack, were also united in marriage at Bergen. 

After the English had taken New Netherland, emigration fiou 
Holland to North America ceased almost entirely for about 180 years^ 
and what little Holland emigration there was during most of that time, 
was directed towards South Africa. On August 12th, 1710, Cornells 
Cornelisse Doremus, born at Middelburg, was married at Bergen, and 
eighty-five years elapsed before the name of another native born 
Hollander was entered upon the marriige record of the \'illage. On 
December 27th, 1795, Peter Baten and Helena Cathariua Coops, both 
from Holland, and living at English Neighborhood, were married by 
Rev. J. Cornelison, and five years later, on August 16th, 1800, Willi im 
Anthony Vander Heyden andEHzabeth Van Holteu, both from Holland 
and living at Bergen, were likewise married by the same. 



13 

Up to October 3d, 1681, all marriages had been performed in the 
school house, but on the above date Dircii Epkese (Banta) and Hester 
Hanse ; besides Wiert Epkese (Banta) and Geertje Jelis^e Mandeville 
were the first couples to be married in the church. 

It is evident from the entries in the records that nearly all mar- 
riag ^ ceremonies were performed publicly in the meeting place, before 
the congregation, either by some minister of the gospel or the voorlezer- 
When the latter tied the marriage knot, he nearly always inserted the 
clause, "and in the presence of the court of Bergen," whilst on 
February 13th, 1687, Jan Criscel and Nicoli Ager were married by the 
Jus ice Claas Arentse Toers, m the presence of some members of the 
congregation. 

From an item in the deacon's account book it appears that the 
usual fee, paid in the early years upon marrying, was/' 6 in seewant, 
which money seems to have been paid over to the church fvinds. After 
Rev. Cornelison had become pastor he put down after the names of 
every couple married by him, the amount of the fees paid by th^m, 
which amounts ranged from $1 to $20. 

BUEIALS. 

The burial customs of the original settlers of New Netherland 
were identical with those of the fatherland, and somewhat peculiar 
as compared with the American funerals of the present time. No 
Dutch burial in the first place was complete, without the servic s of 
the aanspreker. The latter combined in his offico some of the 
functions of the undertaker and the sexton of the present time, and 
tiie whole responsibility of the afiair rested upon him. 

As soon as a person had died, some one of the relatives or a kind 
neighbor went for the aanspreker, and the latter quickly followed 
up the summons, and appeared at the sterfhuis, or bouse of the de- 
ceased, takmg with him a few sheets of mourning paper. Upon arriv- 
ing at the house his first business was to take down the names of the 
people w^hom the family of the deceased wanted to acquaint with his 
demise, at the same time marking the names of those who were to be 
invited to attend the funeral, either as bearers or as mourners. After 
the prfliminary instructions had been received, and the names put 
down, the aanspreker read his list before the family for possible cor- 
rections, and from th'S moment until after the funeral, he was the 
directing genius, and everything was executed according to his com- 
mands. He ordered the grave to be dug, the bell to be rung, if 
such was the custom in the town, ordei'ed the coffin, the hearse, the 
carriages, if they were to be used ; in short, directed the whole affair. 

If the place was very small, or the deceased very prominent, the 
aanspreker annouDced from house to house, in which case he went 



14 

with an "open list." If the "list" was too large for one man, he called 
to his assistance other aansprekers, but the original one, of course, 
remained the head man, and responsible for the proper carrying out 
of all necessary operations. The aansj)reker's dress on those occasions 
was peculiar. Low shoes, black stockings, black knickerbockers, a 
black cutaway coat, covered by a long, flowiog black mantle, a white 
cravat or bands, and a queer looking three-cornered hat or steek, from 
one corner of which, to the right, floated a long black crape like a 
streamer, whilst ujDon the left corner a rosette had been j)inned, show- 
ing the sex and condition (married or single) of the deceased. If the 
latter was very rich or prominent, sometimes teii or twenty aansprekers 
were employed in announcing his death, and one, usually an old ser- 
vant of the family, went in the middle of the street, dressed like the 
aansprekers, walking slowly along with head bowed, his face buried 
in a big mourning handkerchief, and led by two aansprekers, one on 
each side, whilst the others were doing the ivete or announcement at 
the houses. 

When the appointed time for the funeral approached all those in- 
vited to attend, rej^aired to the sterfhuis. The nearest relatives and 
closest friends of the family usually went a Httle earlier, and waited 
for the rest, partaking of some refreshments generally consisting of 
a glass of beer or spirits, before coffee had come into general use, and 
smoking a long clay pipe or a cigar. After all were jDresent the chief 
aanspreker sometimes spoke a few words of consolation, or offered up 
a prayer, and hereupon signalled to the bearers to carry out the bier. 
After the corpse had been brought out on the street or deposited in the 
hearse, the ruling genius who had been busy ranging the relatives and 
friends of the deceased, now said: "The relatives will please follow accord- 
ing to rank, "and aU filed out in the order assigned to them, the young- 
est members of the family coming first, taking their places in the 
carriages, or following on foot as the case might be. All the mourners 
and bearers, and sometimes the driver of the hearse, were either clad 
in the same garbs as the aansprekers, or else had rosettes pinned ujDon 
their sleeve, or upon the lapel of their coat, and the hands of the 
aansprekers were covered with white or black gloves, according to the 
sex of the deceased. 

After everything was in readiness, one or two of the aansprekers 
took their places at the head of the procession, the bearers placed 
themselves alongside the hearse; other aansprekers, if there were any 
more, went between the hearse and the first carriage, and the cortege 
slowly wended its way towards the cemetery. Almost -everybody, 
meeting the train, stood still, doffed hat or cap, and waited with bowed 
head until at least the hearse had passed by. At the gate of the 
cemetery the bearers took the coffin out of the hearse, carried it to the 



15 

grave, and here the aanspreker again spoke a few ^\ords or offered up 
a prayer, for which reason in some districts he was known by the name 
of bidder or prayer. 

The corpse now was lowered into the grave, the aanspreker gav^ 
the sign to the grave digger to cover the coffin up, and hereupon the 
procession filed out in the same manner as they had come, and went in 
a body to the sterfhviis. Here beer or spirits, in later years coffee, 
and victuals had been prepared for them by the women who as a rule 
did not go to the cemetery. The long clay pipes with tobacco, or 
cigars, were on the table, and the mourners ate, drank and smoked 
some, in honor of the deceased. After the first pij^e or cigar bad been 
finished, all but the nearest relatives of the family departed, and the 
real mourners now were alone with their grief. 

It is plain enough that the small pioneer village could not begin 
to conduct its burials in the manner just described. Bergen's inhabi- 
tants had to get along as best they could, and the funerals, at firtt, like 
everything else, were very primitive. The burial records commence d 
on March 4th, 1666, on which date the remains of Michiel Teunissen 
were laid in the grave. Neither bell nor pall, nor liveiied aanspreker 
hallowed, so to speak, the humble funeral, and not until January 16th, 
1678, when Engelbert Steenhuys' remains were interred, had the con- 
gregation been enabled to procure a pall. 

This pall was rather expensive, for according to the accounts of 
the deacons the cost of it was as f oUows : 

10 el of black cloth @/24 per el . - - - /•240 
A linen cover to protect the pall - - - - 14 

Total -------- /254 

This first pall lasted till January 17th, 1715, when a new one was 
bought for the sum of /1 95, and then the old pall was probably re- 
fitted to do service at the burials of children. 

On January Isf, 1798, a new large pall was bought costing £5-11-3, 
and a smaU one at an expense of £2-13-10. 

The cost of the bier generally amounted to fVJ or /18, and the 
bier itself lasted 5 or 6 years. 

After the church had been erected, several of Bergen's inhabitants 
wished, in imitation of the fatherland, for a resting place in the sane - 
tuary, and on August 1st, 1682, the little daughter of Enoch Michielsc 
Vreeiand was the second to be buried within its walls. The third oji 
September 4th of the same year was Peter Marcelis, but it was impossi- 
ble to find out the first one, because either time or frequent handling 
had effaced part of the writing of a few entries, one of which mubu 
contain the mention of the first person, buried in tbe church. Two 
years had elapsed after the dedication, before the belfry received its 



16 

bell, but on Jane 21st, 1683, was "buried the corpse of Maeckje Bil- 
tusen, daugbter of Baltus Barentse, the 6tb, in church and the 1st, 
with knell," showing that about this time the village had received its 
church bell. 

It seems that an extra price was paid for the privilege of being 
buried in church, for comparatively few had their remains interred 
within its walls. The last one whom the record mentions as having 
bsen buried in the church was "Annatje Jackson, aged 49 years, who 
died on Friday, January 13th, 1758, at about 8 a. m., and was buried 
on Sunday, January 15th, in the church in the bapistry." To be 
buried in, or before the bapistry was considered a token of deep ven- 
eration on the side of the members of a congregation, and this honor 
was u&ually only conferred upon preachers or other men, prominent in 
church affairs. The keeper of the burial record mentions one more 
case like the foregoing, though this funeral took not place at Bergen 
but at New York, viz: "1701 July 19th, died in the Lord the Kev. 
Seh ns, on Saturday afternoon, and was buried on Tuesday afternoon, 
July 22d, in the church before the bapistry at New York." 

Many people dying at other places like New York, Pemmerepock, 
Abasymus, Gemoenepa, Acquackenonck, Hackensack etc., were 
brought to Berpen for the purpose of there being interred, and like- 
wise several corpses were conveyed from Bergen to New York, Con- 
stables Hook, Tappan, Acquackenonck and others. The first time a 
cor|)se from Bergen was buried at New York was on December 28th, 
1683, at which date "Ide Cornel iszen Van Voorst was buried at New 
York, with the pall of Bergen." 

Though the Bergen cemetery or church were the customary bury- 
ing places, it was not contiDulsory that the burial should take place 
there; and the records contain several instances of interments of the 
remains of the dead upon hoincerijen, or farms. 

Occasional entries in the record show that Bergen's citizens, no 
more than those of other settlements, were exempt from visitations 
and calamities: "On October 25th was buried the corpse of Dirck 
Fjansz, who had been shipwrecked with his boat." "On February 
18tb, 1701, were interred the remains of Moses Suxbery, who was 
killed in the cedar swamp, on February 17th, by a falling tree." " On 
April 17th, 1704, was buried the body of Jacob van Giesen, who was 
drowned on April 13th, and found on the 15th." Again: "1752, 
died October 18th, with the smallpox, a little boy of Pieter Van Bent- 
huyzen, aged 18 years." In 1753 three members of Nicholas Van 
Dam's family died within three weeks, and in 1775 three members of 
Daniel Solders' family were buried in five days. There are, besides 
tbeae, several cases where two or more members of one family died 
within a few months, showing that sometimes the place was visited 



17 

hy dangerous and deadly diseases. Yet the village and its suiTOund- 
iugs did not seem to be very unhealthy either, for people generally 
reached the allotted span, and a few even surpassed it by many years. 
The records cite" three instances of people who reached a ripe old age, 
viz. : Edward Earle, who died in his 84th year, and was buried on 
December 15th, 1711, on the island Sijckacus ; Marcelis Pieterse, who 
died on October 23d, 1747, 91 years old, and Cornelis Blinkerhof, who 
died on September 1st, 1770, at the age of 97 years and 4 months, 
lacking 6 days. Mr. Cornelis Blinkerhof was probably, at the moment 
of his death, the last one of those above whom the banner of the 
Dutch Republic had yet floated, before the final surrender of New 
Netherland to England in 1674, and therefore, at that time, was the 
last link, connecting the past with the present. 

We are indebted to the register of the dead for the name of one 
elder at least of Bsrgen's early church, viz.: "1732, August 13tb, died 
and the 15th buried, Wander Diederix, elder at Bergen." 

After the cemetery had been used for over 70 years, the need 
was being felt for a new one, and in 1738 Bergen's second burying 
ground was opened. The first one to be interred here was Joseph, 
son of Hendrik van Winkel, on November 22d, 1738, though the 
other cemetery was not yet entirely abandoned, for on April 11th, 
1744, Geesje, daughter of Matbys De Mott was still buried upon the 
old one. This second cemetery, after having been need for just half 
a century, also became crowded, and the congregation was obliged to 
look around for a third burial ground, which was made ready for use 
and surrounded by a fence in the year 1789. 

From an account, dated 1690, of the expenses incurred for the 
burial of a pensioner of the Bergen Church, something like an esti- 
mate can be formed of the cost of funerals : 

Coffin and spirits, - - /25.10sto | Aanspreker, - - - /lO.lOst. 
i keg of beer. - - - 15.16 | Matheus Cornelisse, for cart- 
Flour and milk, - - 6.05 i ing the good.'<, - - 3.00 

Sundries, - - . . 15.05 i 

Total, ------'-..... /85.06st. 

RELIGIOUS SERVICES AND THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

People from far and near came to Bergen to worship, because 
the little village, for several years, possessed the only organized Re- 
formed Church community on this side of the North River. Near 
Hackensack a settlement had been begun in 1641, but no church was 
organized until 1686. Hasymus had been settled at about 1630 ; but 
though a hamlet had been formed there, the colonists, in church mat- 
ters, resorted to Bergen, and the same was the case with Communi- 



18 

paw, where a stockaded enclosure against the Indians had been 
erected as early as 1655 or '56. 

Before a minister had been permanently settled at Bergen, the 
voorlezer conducted religious services in the dorj'), or village, during 
the morning on Sundays, and in the afternoon went to Ahasymus or 
Gemoenepa, where the inhabitants probably met in some farm-house, 
to listen to the reading of a sermon, published by some one of the 
leading divines in the United Provinces. At Bergen, therefore, ser- 
vices were held once a week in the morning, and at Ahasymus and 
Gemoenepa once in every two weeks during the afternoon. Besides 
those Sunday services there were meetings on the ecclesiastical holy 
days, and often also during the week days, as on days of prayer and 
thanksgiving, or in preparation for the coming celebration of the 
communion. 

Several times "sermon books " were bought by the voorlezer, who 
was not allowed to deliver a sermon of his own construction, but had 
to read one by some leading orthodox Reformed divine. la 1679, /12 
were expended in the purchase of printed sermons, and again, on De- 
cember 31, 1682, the consistory laid out/ 75 for four large theological 
works, the titles of which were as follows: 

1. The Secret of Happiness in God. 
3. On the Epistle to the Philippians. 

3. Explanation of the Catechism. 

4. The True Repentance. 

An hour-glass, or " sand-runner," stood on the reader's desk, and 
when the sand had run from the upper hollow into the lower, he was 
to suspend services, and to dismiss the congregation. Several times 
the accounts contain entries about the purchase of hour-glasses, the 
prices of which ranged from /'4 lOst. to /*6. A large Staten Bible, 
costing /60, had been bought in 1680, and probably lasted till the in- 
troduction of English dispensed with its usefulness. 

Three or four times per year a minister crossed over from Nevv 
York, or some other place, to administer the Sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper, and at this time all those, belonging to the congregation, came 
from far and near to take part in the celebration. From an entry in 
the account book, it seems that the sacrament was administered for 
the first time on September 10th, 1672, though it may also mean by a 
certain individual minister. It reads thus: "When the dominie ad- 
ministered the Lord's Supper here for the first time, coll. /16.1st." 

On May 26th, 1678, Bergen's first communion set was bought at 
an expense of /74 lOst., and consisted of the following articles : " 8 lbs. 
of pewter, being 3 plates and a pitcher of /6 the lb., and 2 pewter 
beakers at / 12 apiece, and 1 el of Ossenburger linen." At the same 



19 

time 11-el linen was bought for a tablecloth, costing^/'5 lOst. per el, 
or /60 lOst. for the whole. On January 26th, 1731, the pewter cups 
were changed for two silver ones, bought of Hendrikus Boele, and 
costing ^/"SIO lOst. in see wan. These latter cups are still in possession 
of the Bergen Reformed Church, and do service at every communion. 
The other communion expenses usually were about/ 20 for bread and 
wine, and /G for cleaning, which was always done by the wife of the 
voorlezer. 

The members, living at a distance, undoubtedly encountered many 
hardships in coming to church from a distance of twelve miles or 
more, and Prof. Demarest's pleasant fancy sketch on pages 12 and 13 
in "The Huguenots on the Hackensack" applies to the Dutch as well 
as to the French communicants of Bergen's congregation, when he 
says : "I would that I were able to give an authentic account of the 
church -going habits of these people during their connection with the 
church of Bergen. Doubtless, they were all in attendance on every 
Communion Day, whether it were the Lord's day or Monday. They 
would make all their preparations on Saturday, so that they might 
start early in the morning, for the distance was nearly twenty miles, 
and the roads were not macadamized, and the wagons were spring- 
less, and the farm horses not very fleet. Besides, it was desirable to 
have, after so long a journey, a half-hour's rest before service, for the 
good of body, mind and soul. The proximity of the inn to the 
church, customary in those days, was not an unmixed evil. Perhaps, 
after the services, some Van Horn, or Van Winkle, or Van Riper, or 
Van Wagenen, or Vreeland, would insist on taking the company home 
to dinner, for nothing pleased the Dutchman of that day so well as to 
have his table crowded on a Sunday by people whom he respected. 
Sometimes very little of the day, especially in the winter, would be 
left after the close of public worship, for the communion service occu- 
pied hours, and then they would tarry till morning, and on the Mon- 
day wend their way homeward. They were not so driven and hurried 
in their worldly business as men now are. Perhaps they often brought 
their lunch with them, and, having been refreshed by it, started on 
their tedious journey for home, which they would not reach until after 
nightfall. We may well believe, too, that the forests, through which 
they passed in going to and returning from the house of God, were 
made to ring with the psalms of Marot and Beza " (and Datheen). 

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. 

The greatest part of the books, containing the accounts of the 
deacons, have been preserved almost from the beginning, but those of 
the church masters seem to have been lost. Many expenditures, there- 
fore, outside of those for the poor, would have remained unknown if 



20 

the deaconry bad not advanced money for the church funds, either in 
payment of salaries or for other purposes. 

The principal sources of revenue for the poor funds were the 
weekly collections at Bergen, and the bi -weekly ones at Ahasymus and 
Gemoenej^a, which latter were deposited in the treasury at Bergen 
whenever, after an election, the new deacons at those hamlets suc- 
ceeded the old ones. The co lections at Aiiasymus and Gemoenepa 
generally averaged from /'•2 to /3 per service, and those at Bergen 
during the first few years amounted to /'3 or fi per week, later on to 
/8 and / 10, but after the treasury contained about /'20,000 in seewan 
and the number of poor, to be provided for, decreased each year, the 
usual weekly offerings there, during the first quarter of the former 
century, only averaged about /'5. In 1760 the collections, taken up 
during a few services, ranged from 4:S. to 14g. 9d., but at that time 
there was a minister, and all the people, resorting under Bergen's 
church, probab'y went thither to attend service. Whenever, before 
that time, a minister jjreached at Bergen, either duting the week or 
on Sunday, the amount of the collections taken, was often five or six 
times higher than when the Voorlezer led the services, and the offer- 
ings, taken up during a minister's sermon, were sometimes entered as 
" a dominie's collection." But the communion collections surpassed 
all others. They ranged from /7.14st. in 1673 up to ;^106.14st. in 
1683, but ihe average amou.ut was about/ 50. 

After the receipts surjjassed the expenditures, the deacons com- 
menced to look around for means of investing the surplus, and began 
to buy cows, which received names either according to color or dispo- 
sition, like " Brown, '' • ' Wildman, " etc. Those cows were given in the 
care of responsible members of the congregation, on a yeaily " butter- 
rent" of 12 lbs., i. e., those accepting a cow from the deaconry, had to 
pay an annual rent of 12 lbs. of butter, or its value in money. The 
price of butter amounted, in the winter of 1679, to 22st. per lb , so 
that the deacons then received/ 13. 4st. rent for one cow. Half of the 
risk, and half of the natural increase fell to the share of each one of 
the contracting parties. If the cow died while in the charge of a cer- 
tain individual he had to bear half f f the loss, but also received half 
of the market value of its calves. When a cow did no longer give 
enough milk it was fattened, and sold in the market. Bergen, like 
other neighboring settlements, probab y had one or more local cow- 
boys ioto whose care the animal wds intrusted, while being fattened 
upon the products of the forest. At oiiPi time the deacons paid/37 
" pasturage money " for a c iw, probably to the Bergen cow-herder. 

After 1715 the deacons quit the "butter rent" business and con- 
fined themselves solely to money lending as a means of increasing the 
revenue. Suras ranging from/ 10 to/-4,000 Avere put out upon inter- 



21 

est, the rate of which was 6 per cent., though in a few cases borrow- 
ers, or their heii's and securities, were exempt from paying interest. 
For miles around people came to Bergen for money, which seems to 
have been readily granted upon the bt nd of the borrower and h s 
securities, or upon giving in custody personal property to the value of 
the sum loaned. Once in a while, also, testators bespoke legacies to- 
the deaconry, cne of which was paid in the following manner: " 1707, 
Sept. 29, per cassa of Maritje/900, which she owed to Hans Har- 
mese, deceased, which sum he had ordered upon his sick bed to be 
paid to the deaconry of Bergen." 

People who were privately married, besides paying their fee to 
the Voorlezer, sometimes took up a collec ion for the poor among their 
friends or relatives, as is shown by the following entry in the dfacon» 
account book: "On Wednesday, November 6, 1678, when Siebe Ep- 
kese (Banta) and Maritje Aryanse Sip w^ere united in marriage in the 
village of Bergen by the Voorlezer, collection /2.19st." Several times, 
a' so, living persons, who had reasons to feel grateful for some bless- 
ing or other, handed larger or smaller amounts to the deacons, to be 
expended for the poor. But the poor of Bergen were not in need of 
much, for though, duriug the first few years, many needy persons, 
even as far off as Karitan, received support, later on, several years- 
passpd by without hardly any expense for the sustenance of poor 
members, though it often happened that strangers, "who had been 
burnt out," or "without legs," and the like, received more or less 
liberal gifts. 

Another very steady source of revenue was the rent for the pall. 
At first the deacons had resolved to charge fli for every adult and 
/7 fo'- each child buried Avith it, but on June 14, 1791, the price went 
down to/6 for an adult and/ 3 for a child. On December 25th, 1711, 
the receipts for the pall, since it had been first introduced, already 
amounted to/864.17st., or about twice as much as what the combined 
cost price of the old and the new pall amounted to. 

It seems that the business of the deacons, at times, was of such a 
nature, that the services of the sheriff had to be called in, for on June 
6, 1694, an item was entered into the account book reading thus : 
"Paid to the sheriff/ 12." Other expenses were for new chests, 
locks, money bags, journals and cash books, binding and book-keep- 
ing. In 1747 2s. 5d. were paid to Hendrik Van Winkel for surveying 
church lands, and a few years later several entries were made, account- 
ing for moneys, disbursed to people whose colored servants had done 
work upon the church or its belongings. 

Once or twice per year the entries in the journals of Bergen, 
Ahasymus and Gemoenepa were carried over i i the cash book. The 
yearly e'ipense for keeping the journals was /'12, and the same amount 



22 

was paid for the annual work. As almost all collections taken up 
were received in see wan, or wampum, either loose or braided, the 
bookkeejDing, for more than a century, only reckoned in guilders 
seewan, and all other moneys were reduced to that. The receipts of 
interest and principal of loaned money consisted of Dutch pieces of 
eight, realtjes, and loan dollars, the value of all of which was reduced 
to guilders seewan. The amount of seewan at hand was sometimes 
so large that in 1691 not less than /4,000 in seewan were brought to 
Stephen Van Cortlandt, to be changed by him for silver money. The 
following list will show the value in seewan of the kinds of money 
mostly received by the deacons at Bergen : 

A piece of eight was worth _ _ _ /12.00st. in seewan. 

A realtje « « _ _ . ^bout 1.10 " 

A loan dollar " " . . . H.OO " 

A £ English " " _ . . 40.00 " 

So that a dollar American money was worth - 8.00 " 

The deacons often bought commodities for their poor instead of 
paying them in money, which practice enables us to get acquainted 
with the price of some kinds of cereals at various times. 

In 1673 the price of 1 schepel of wheat was/ 6 seewan; of 1 sche- 
pel of rye,/4 seewan, and of 1 schepel of Indiaa com,/4 seewan. In 
1G90, October 12, a schepel of rye, only brought /3. On July 5, 
1G93, a schepel of wheat cost /8, and on May 25, 1694, the price of 
rye went up to/6.5st. per schepel. A very sudden fluctuation had 
taken place in the summer of 1695. On August 11 of that year thet 
price was yet/ 5 per schejDel, and before two months had elapsed it 
had droi^ped down to/ 4. 

It is evident from the several accounts that the deacons of Ber- 
gen took the utmost care of theu' poor, and did not let them want 
anything if they could help it. In 1688 they paid Dr. Kobinson/ 240 
for curing a man of insanity ; in 1694 Surgeon C. Viele, of New York, 
received/ 130 for medical attendance upon a needy member ; in 1735 
they gave/90 to " Johannis Kruyer, for his passage to Amsterdam.'' 
A little later they paid the shoemaker/ 1.6st. for mending a poor per- 
son's shoes. At another time they paid £6 per year for a poor man's 
board. And so it goes on ad infinitum. The following list of alms 
given to a needy member of Bergen's congregation may serve as an 
illustration: "1681, September 24, to a needy member" — 

lOst 



2 blankets, - . 


/58 




m lbs. of lead, - 


/2 


2 schepel of salt, 


6 




4 lbs. of shot, 


- 3 


7 lbs. of wool, - 


14 




4 deerskins, 


35 


13 lbs. of nails, 


- 19 


lOst. 


14 el of cloth at/ 5, 


- 70 


2 cowbells, 


6 




\% el of cloth at/ 12, - 


18 


2 lbs. of gunpowder, 


- 6 




3 doz. (rest illegible), 


3 



23 



3 skeins of red yarn, - 


/I 


1st. 


Sep. 24— Bill of Claas Arentse 




7 measures of cod liver oil, 


5 


5st. 


Toers, - - - /90 
Apr. 3, 1683— i gallon of rum 
and 18 lbs. molasses - 5 


15st. 


Dec. 36, 1681—3 sch. of rye 






18st. 


and 4 sch. of seed wheat, 


40 




4 sch. rye and 2 sch. wheat, 34 




1 sch. of rye, 


4 




Nails and starch, - 6 




Jan. 17, 1682—4 sch. of In- 






July 2—2 sch. rye, - - 8 




dian corn. 


16 




Dec. 16— Board for his child 




June 11 — 3 sch, of wheat, 


18 
13 


lOsL 


to W. Jansen, - - 150 




In money, 


Sum total, - /633 


09st. 



Once at a time, in the earlier years, Bergen's deaconry suffered a 
comparatively insignificant loss, because a person who had borrowed 
money from it, "died bankrupt." A much severer loss was sustained 
through the repudiation of the Continental, State, and communal 
paper money, issued during the Revolutionary war and earlier. Two 
packages containing $1,214 in worthless continental bills, and 
upwards of $700 in State and communal paper are still preserved in 
the church treasury, and may, at some fviture time, be of value to the 
numismatist or the antiquarian. 



THE VOORLEZER. 

Not one single man in the Reformed Church had so many offices 
united in his person as the Voorlezer of a small village congregation. 
His two principal duties were teaching the youth and educating them 
"in all the christian and social virtues " during the week days, and serv- 
ing the congregation as precentor or voorlezer during Sundays. Before 
the minister entered his pulpit, at the beginning of the religious ser- 
vices, the Voorlezer took his place at a desk in front of the high pul- 
pit, or "preaching chair," as it was called, and opened the meeting by 
announcing and reading a verse from the Psalms. He then led the 
congregation in the singing of it, for which reason he was often called 
" foresinger." When the verse had been sung, he first read the ten 
commandments, or the creed, and thereupon a portion of the Scrip- 
tures. The preacher, in the meantime, had ascended the pulpit, a 
verse was again sung, and the Voorlezer now left his desk, and took 
his seat in the pew, set apart for the members of the consistory. 
When the sermon, which usually lasted an hour and a half, was about 
half finished, the minister again announced a Psalm verse, the fore- 
singer |uit his pew for the desk, and while the congregation were 
singing, the deacons went around with "the bell," to gather in the 
collections. At the close of the services the " foresinger " again led 
in singing, the minister pronounced the benediction, and the congre- 
gation dispersed. 

Beside teaching the youth in several branches of secular knowl- 



24 

■edge, the schoolmaster-forereader was at the same time catechiser, and 
at the beginning of Bergen's history used in his school a question 
book, written by Dominie Johannis Megapolensis, minister at New 
Amsterdam. At the opening of the studies in the morning of each 
day a jjrayer was offered, a Psalm verse sung, and the lessons were 
often preceded by a Bible story. At the end of the morning session 
a Psalm verse closed the exercises ; the afternoon lessons were again 
begun by the sioging of a Psalm verse, and at 4 o'clock P. M. the 
work of the day was ended, by the singing of another verse of the 
Psalms and with prayer. 

If there was no minister, then the Voorlezer took his place, and 
discharged all the duties of the local pastor, except baptizing children 
and administering the Lord's Supper, but he was not allowed to 
ascend the pulpit. Beside all this the Voorlezer sometimes officiated 
as bell-ringei', kept the church records, took care of the communion 
pet, the bier and the pall, acted as bookkeejDer for the deacons, and 
also served in the capacity of Aanspreker or funeral director. In this 
latter capacity the Voorlezers of Bergen kept the records of the dead. 

It is evident from all this, that there was no man in the village 
who led so busy a life as this church official, and sometimes he had 
to call in assistance, especially for carrying over the accounts from 
the journals into the cash book, which took place twice a year. Some 
times he called in the help of Oliver Teller or Uldrick Brouwer ; at 
another time it was Peter Marcels or Claas Arentse Toers, or Johannis 
Van Houten, and, later on, Zacharias Sickels often kept both, the 
journals and the cash book. The salary paid for keeping the 
books was /24, viz./12 for the journals and/ 12 for the cash book. 

Little or nothing has ever been said about the early Voorlezers, 
but it is evident that they were as much of a power for good, though 
in a humbler way, as the ministers, and the people undoubtedly 
honored them almost as much, as they did the latter, especially when, 
in the absence of a local j)astor, the Voorlezers %\ere many a time the 
only educated pe^'sons in the settlement. As secular and religious 
teachers, as men of business and of experience in worldly things, and 
particularly as men of education, they exerted a great influence upon 
the popular mind, and were undoubtedly useful in shaping the public 
opinion of their fellow citizens. Bergen was lucky, in having for its 
Voorlezers men, who had evidently received a somewhat suj^erior edu- 
<*ation, especially the four earlier ones, who may have been educa- 
ted in Holland, and wrote the language grammatically correct. 

The first Voorlezer of Bergen was Mr. Kynier Van Giesen, who 
probably came from Utrecht in the Netherlands, and before locating at 
Bergen seems to have settled at Midwoud on Long Island. He was 
not only at home in the language, but also in the history of his coun- 



25 

try, as is shown by his correct rendering- in the marriage records of 
the historical divisions of the seven provinces which, at that time, v^ as 
not a very easy task. After having served Bergen for foity-two years 
in the several capacities mentioned above, he died in the harness on 
May 12, and on " May 15, 1707, were buried the remains of Reynier 
Bastianse Van Giesen, after having filled the office of Voorlezer for 
about forty-two years, at Bergen." 

Almost a year afterward, on February 8, 1708, Mr. Adrian Ver- 
meulen read his first sermon in church, at which occasion the deacons 
took up fur that time the rather liberal collection of/7.10st. On May 
1 he concluded his first marriage at Bergen in presence of the Justice 
Helmigh R jelofse Van Houten, and a few weeks later was himself 
married by Rev. Guiliamo Bertholf, of Hackensack, as is shown by 
the following entry, copied from the marriage records: " On June 
13, 1708, Adrian Vermeulen, born at Vlissingen in Zeeland, widower 
of Dina Swarts, married to Christina Fredricks, bora at Bergen." 

Mr. Vermeulen served Bergen's congregation for about twenty- 
eight years, and on April 3, 1736, was succeeded by Mr. P. Van 
Benthuyzen, who in his turn just twenty-five years latei', on April 3, 
1761, was succeeded by Abraham Sickels. Mr. Sickels was the last of 
Bergen's Voorlezers, and in 1789, his successor, Mr. John Collard, re- 
ceived the title of "clerk," upon a salary, it appears, of £2 15 shillings 
per annum. 

It seems that the Voorlezer's salary, in the absence of a local pas- 
tor, exceeded /600, for in 1729 the deacons, on February 17, advanced 
/300 towards his salary, and again on July 27, /302. At another 
time in 1694 they paid to R. Van Giesen, "for back salary," /401. 
Beside his salary as Voorlezer and schoolmaster, the official also* 
charged for his services as bookkeeper and as Aanspreker, and prob- 
ably received some reward from the people, whose names he entered 
into the baptismal or marriagfe records, as it was the custom in neigh- 
boring congregations. 

THE MINISTER. 

From the time of its organization in 1662 till 1750 Bergen had 
been without a local pastor, and it seems that during all that time, 
except at the very beginning, no efforts had been made to secui-e one. 
The congregation probably was not able to support both a Voorlezer 
and a uiinister, and the members were satisfied with the stated 
weekly readings of their " forereader," and the occasional administra- 
tions by pastors from other places, whilst once in a while, in the ab- 
sence of the local Voorlezer, other members like Uldi-ick Brouwer or 
Peter Marcelis t jok the place of the latter. Bergen's members, there- 



26 

fore, heard a great variety of talent in the course of every year, for 
ministers from all over the country, if they happened to be at New 
York or in its vicinity, nearly always crossed the North River to preach 
before Bergen's congregation. 

Besides the New York ministers, who, at stated times of the year, 
very often during week days, administered the Sacraments of Baptism 
and of the Lord's Supper, admitted new members, installed the elected 
elders and deacons, and conducted special services, the pastors from 
Long Island, Hackensack, Esopus, Fish Kill, Tapan, Raritan and sev- 
eral other churches, preached before the pastorless congregation. The 
names of Revs. John and Samuel Megapolensis, Wilhelmus Nieuwen- 
huyzen, Caspar Van Zuren, Henricus Selyns, Gualterus Du Bois, 
J. Wyckstein of Esopus, P. Tassemaker,B. Varick, Godfried Dellius, G. 
Bertholf, W. Lupardus, B. Freeman of Schenectady, R. Erickson, A. 
Cartenius, CorneliusVan Schie of Fishkill, J. Leyt, Geo.W. Mancius, Th. 
Romeyn, J. Ritsema, J. Frelinghuysen, Samuel Verbryck, B. Vrooman, 
D. Marinus, and and others, often appear in the accounts of the deacons, 
bome of them continually, showing that the little Jersey village was not 
forgotten by those, who had been called upon to bring the gospel to 
the Dutch speaking inhabitants of the North American Colonies. 

Neither did Bergen's congregation expect those ministers to preach 
to them for nothing. They received from / 25 to /72 per service, 
beside expenses and board. The New York ministers had to pay/ 6 
to the ferryman and/ G for a carriage from the ferry to Bergen, as is 
shown by the accounts. Peter Marcelis sometimes went for the 
dominie, but Cornells Blinkerhof seems to have been the man upon 
whom devolved this duty, and for years he conveyed the 
preachers between the two points. About ten years after Rev. 
Du Bois began his periodical services at Bergen, the Consistry in 1720 
resolved to pay him/ 6 whenever he found other means of convey- 
ance, or made use of his feet, upon coming to Bergen to preach. The 
Van Houten family seem to have enjoyed the monopoly of boarding 
the ministers, first Helmigh Roelofse Van Houten, and upon his death 
in November, 1729, Johannis Van Houten. The expenses for board, 
charged after every visit of the minister to Bergen, amounted to /12 
n seewan. 

On April 1, 1750, the consistory of Bergen met in order to delib- 
erate about calling Dom. Petrus DeWint as joint pastor of Bergen 
and Staten Island, and resolved to submit the following articles, rela- 
tive to the proposed call, to the male members of the congregation : 
I. and II. Expressing the desirability of calling Mr. DeWint. 

III. He should live at Bergen. 

IV. Bergen's congregation to build the parsonage. 

V. Bfci gen shall keep paisonage, fence and grounds in good repair. 



27 

VI. The salary shall amount to £80 per year, £40 to be paid by 
Bergen, and £40 by Staten Island. 

VII. He shall have to preach once every Sunday, from November 
1 till March 1, and twice from March 1 till November 1. He shall ad- 
minister the Lord's Supper four times per year, and shall preach a 
preparatory sermon on the Wednesday preceding the day, set apart 
for the administration of the Lord's Supper. 

VIII. The congregation of Bergen shall supply the minister with 
sufficient firewood the year round. 

IX. Staten Island shall provide the minister, for the first time, 
with a good carriage horse ; but when that horse is no longer able, 
he shall have to buy one at his own expense. The congregation of 
Staten Island shall always procure food for the minister's horse. 

X. If, on account of wind or rain storm, the minister shall have to 
remain at Bergen, when, it is Staten Island's turn to have him preach 
thei'e, he shall, notwithstanding, preach again at Bergen on the follow- 
ng Sunday. But if in winter the ice should prevent him from reach- 

iing the Kill Van Kol, then he shall repay those turns to Staten Island 
as soon as possible. 

XL The congregation of Bergen shall build their minister a house, 
on grounds next to the church. 

XII. Finally resolved that on to morrow all males who pay for 
the church and religious services, shall be invited from the pulpit, to 
appear at the close of the second service (in the afternoon) at the house 
of Johannis Van Houten, where all the foregoing articles shall be read 
to them, in order to deliberate about their contents, and to decide by 
a majority of votes. 

The following day Rev. G. Dubois made the announcement from the 
pulpit, and all invited repaired to Johannis Van Houten's house to 
discuss the articles, submitted to their approbation. At this meeting 
some civil affairs were at the same time discussed, as appears from the 
following ; " None of those present had any weighty objections to the 
proposed articles, but some judged that, according to a resolution of 
all the inhabitants of Bergen, the lands ought to be surveyed first, in 
order to find out who has more fenced in than belongs to him. All 
those present deemed this to be very reasonable, but with few excep- 
tions the assembly resolved that the propositions of the governing 
consistory were all right, and ought to be acted upon as soon as 
possible." 

"Hereupon it was resolved to submit the articles to the persons, 
come over from Staten Island, and if the congregation of Staten Is- 
land approved of them, to call Dom. Peter DeWint as soon as possible.' 

"Thereupon the friends of Staten Island were invited to see the 
Consistory about it. They appeared, and all the articles were sub- 



28 

tnitted to them. As far as concerned themselves, they did not object 
to them, but requested a copy to submit it to their congregation. If 
the congregation accepted the propositions, they would, together with 
the congregation of Bergen, call Dom. Da Wint right away, upon the 
proposed conditions." 

"Hereiipon the meeting came to a c'ose.'' 

"N. B. — The articles, cojDied by Dom. Du Bois, have been called 
for by the ferryman of Staten Island, sent for that purpose by the 
Consistory, on April 6, 1750." 

Everything was now in order, and on April 17, 1750, Elder 
Gerrit Post, ot Staten Island, and the Consistory of Bergen called 
upon Rev. Du Bois at New York to make an agreement between the 
two congregations, and hereupon Mr. De Wint was called as the 
preacher of the Reformed Caurches at Bergen and Staten Islard. On 
July 13, 1750, Mr. De Wint arrived at New York. Rev. G. DuBois, in 
the forenoon of July 21 following, took his leave of the congregations 
and introduced to them their new minister, who, io the afternoon of 
the same day preached his iutroductory sermon at Bergen as pastor 
of Bergen and Staten Island, in wbich capacity he served them for 
about a year, and then had to leave. 

Before the close of 1751 the congregations were again pastorless, 
but after having once tasted the sweets of the regular preaching of 
the Gospe], they were desirous for more, and accordingly called, on 
June 22, 1753, Mr. William Jackson, theological student under Rev. 
Johannis Frelinghuysen, pastor at Raritan, upon conditions, as set 
iorth in the call below : 

"In the fear of the Lord's holy name, amen." 

"Whereas, the preaching of God's Holy Word is the means 
ordained by Him to lead men to salvation: Therefore we, the under- 
signed elders and deacons, at present forming the Consistories of the 
combined congregations of Bergen, in the Province of New Jersey, 
and of Staten Island, in the Province of New York, having heard of 
ihe gifts of Mr. William Jackson, student of divinity ; and, whereas 
our congregations being well pleased and satisfied (with those gifts) 
aud as calling " come over and help us ;" therefore we, having come 
together, earnestly to discuss the weighty matter about making a call, 
have, after calling upon the Lord's name, resolved with a unanimous 
vote to call the aforesaid Mr. Wilhelmus Jackson, as we do by the 
jiiesent, for our ordinary pastor and instructor, in order to admioister 
the holy office among us, in accordance with the requirements of holy 
writ, of the Reformed Churches and of the discipline established in the 
R- formed Church of the Netherlands by the Christian Synod, held at 
Dordrecht in the years 1618 and 1619. 

"We call his Reverence upon the following conditions : 



29 

''I. His Keveiwnce shall, at the earliest opportunity, sail for Europe 
in order to be preparatorily examined by some Reverend Classis of 
the Reformed Church in any of the seven provinces of the United 
Netherlands, and having become a Ministerii Candidatus, to be per- 
emptorily examined by the Reverend Classis of Amsterdam, and, with 
the laying up of hands, according to Apostolic and Reformed usage, 
to be set apart for the holy ofifice. and to be inducted into it." 

"11. His Reverence, having returned to us, shall perform all the 
requirements of the holy office, viz.: Call upon the God of Heaven, as 
it behooves a God-fearing pastor and instructor of the Reformed 
Church of Jesus Christ ; preach the Word of God in its purity; ad- 
minister the holy sacraments according to the institutions of Jesas 
Christ; exercise the church discipline; visit the sick; instruct the 
youth, and have a good oversight in all its parts, as far as he is able, 
over the Church of Jesus Christ." 

"III. His Reverence, when in good health, and the weather beirg 
favorable, shall, if it please God, from Easter till the begmning of 
November, preach twice upon every Lord's day in the churches of the 
aforesaid congregations, alternately, upoa some text of God's Holy 
Word, in the morning ; and in the afternoon according to the topics 
furnished by the Heidelberer Catechism." "But if wind or floating 
ice should detain his Reverence, so that on two successive Sabbatbs 
he preaches before the same congregation, then the same will be done 
in the other church, that every congregation may receive each year 
the just half of his Reverence's services." 

"During the rest of the year one sermon per day shall be deemed 
sufficient." 

"And if the congregation or consistory of the Church of Jesus 
Christ at Staten Island, should wish for some part of the service to 
be held in a langujge in which his reverence is at home, he will nut 
refuse to accommodate them." 

"IV. His Reverence shall observe the church holy days accord- 
ing to the custom of the Reformed Ch irch." 

'V. His Reverence will, if it please God, administer the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper three times per year in every congrega- 
tion." [In March. 1769, the consistory of Staten Island resolved to 
have communion four times a year, probably to give the Dutch and 
the English portion of the congregation an equal share. — Translator.] 

"VI. His Reverence shall, before administering the Lord's 
Suppei preach a preparatory sermon, and visit the members at their 
houses, as much as the weather, the time, and the opportunities will 
aUow." 

" Upon these conditions we, the consistories of Bergen and Staten 
Island, in our qualities as elders and deacons, for us and our success- 



30 

ors, promise from time to time, as long as His Reveifence shall be our 
pastor and iusti'uctor, besides all the love, esteem and obedience, due, 
according to God's Word, to a faithful minister of the gospel, this 
following, viz.: 

1. "We shall pay His Reverence, after accepting and signing 
this call, £100 current money of the province of New York." 

2. " We shall give His Reverence, and keep in good repairs, a 
decent house, with barn, garden and well, in the village of Bergen, to 
his, and the congregation's satisfaction." 

3. "During the time that His Reverence, in the performance of 
his duties, shall be at Staten Island, the latter shall provide him with 
board and decent lodgings. The congregation of Staten Island shall 
likewise pay for his fare across the ferry." 

4. "His Reverence will also receive a good horse with its equip- 
ments." 

5. ' ' We finally promise to pay His Reverence yearly and for 
every year, the sum of £100 current money of the province of New 
York, in two payments, and to pay every half year the right half, each 
congregation contributing its just quota." 

"We, the undersigned, dedicate this call to, and deliver it up 
into the hands of the aforementioned Mr. Wilhelmus Jackson, wishing 
of the Lord to incline his heart to accept the same in the fear of the 
Lord, and praying that it may please the God of heaven, the governor 
of the world, to conduct him safely across the tvirbulent element, and 
to let him return to us with a rich blessing of the Gospel." 

"That we are sincere and in earnest in this our act, therefore we 
put down our signatures and affix our seals in our consistory meeting, 
held at Bergen, this 22d day of June, in the year 1753.'' 

( Here follow the signatures.) 

"In the presence of us as witnesses : 

JOHANNIS FeeLINGHUYZEN, 

T'. D. M., at Raritan. 

GosE Adrians, 

Justice of the Peace and Schildknaap," 

(Rev. W. Jackson signed the call on September 10, 1757.) 

In the same year, 1753, Mr. Jackson set out for Holland, and the 
consistory of Bergen, according to its px'omise, on November 4, 1753, 
paid him £50, which was undoubtedly also done by the congregation 
of Staten Island. After an absence of almost four years he returned 
in 1757, and continued to serve the churches of Bergen and Staten 
Island till 1789, when mental derangement incapacitated him from 



31 

any longer holding his office. The consistory of Bergen then granted 
him the use of a house and lot, in which he continued to live antil his 
death in 1813. 

During Kev. W. Jackson's ministry the church of Bergen was in- 
corporated on December 20, 1771, and in 1792 united with English 
neighborhood. The two consistories now made a call vipon Mr. John 
Cornelisson candidate for the ministry, which call he accepted, and on 
May 26, 1793, Revs. Warmoldus Kuypers, W. P. Kuypers, Nich. 
Lansing and Solomon Freligh ordained and installed him in the church, 
and before the congregation at Bergen. The Holland tongue now 
ceased to be the language of the pulpit and of the church records, 
though in some instances English and Dutch were alternately used in 
the latter till 1805. 



MAR 4 |!«U4 



INDEX 



Page 
The Seitlicment of Bekgen. -._... 3. 

The Schuoi,, ---..-.. 4 

The CnriKii, ---------6 

The Membkrwhii', -------- 7 

The Coxsistouy, ........ Q 

Bai'tisms. - -_-..-. 10 

Makkiage!^, - - - - - - 11 

BrKiAi.s, -----_... 13 

r{ELH4H)r.s Services and the Lord's Suppek, - - - - 17- 

Receipts and Expenditukes, - - - - - - 19 

The Voorlezek, --------23 

The Minister, ........ 25- 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 206 391 8 



mil 



